


Nightmares

by orphan_account



Series: Rehab AU [2]
Category: Borderlands
Genre: Amputation, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Punching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 07:04:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6556555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After having a vivid nightmare and reliving the pain that made Jack lose his arm in the first place, he wakes up angry, upset, and filled with more hatred of his artificial arm than ever before. Rhys attempts to calm him down but Jack lashes out at him, his anger blinding him until the damage has already been done.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this drabble a while ago on my Tumblr but I decided to post it here too, to keep it in a series for this rehab AU. For those of you unaware, Jack had his left arm taken by bandits down on Pandora and after he was given a mechanical arm, Rhys was instructed to be his physical therapist.

Handsome Jack was a tough son of a bitch, he made _that_ clear to anyone and everyone, even those who didn’t exactly ask. It was more than just a pride thing, it was maintaining his position and image as CEO of Hyperion. Such a powerful company needed an extremely powerful leader. But after having lost his arm, his stupid, _**stupid**_ arm, he wasn’t as stable and strong as he wanted to be.

In fact, if a psychologist had the chance to get within ten feet of the man and have a five minute chat in addition, they could _easily_ ascertain he was dealing with some serious PTSD. The incident that robbed Jack of his arm was nothing short of brutal torture. Bandits wanted him dead, sure, but they wanted to see him suffer first. Luckily that sadistic mindset of theirs let him hold out for help from Hyperion.

So here he was, jolting up from the couch in Rhys’ office and startling Rhys as he sat at his desk, deep breaths wheezing past his mouth in handfuls as he reeled from his nightmare. When did he fall asleep in Rhys’ office? He couldn’t even remember. All he could remember was the vivid nightmare he just had. Jack hadn’t even told Rhys that he got nightmares, flashbacks to the painful process that took his arm, so Rhys was, understandably, confused.

“ _God fucking–!! **Dammit!**_ ” Jack growled in a seething anger, bringing up his left arm to stare at it with hatred in his eyes.

“ _Jack?_ ” Rhys’ voice finally reached Jack’s ears, but Jack didn’t look away from that damned arm of his for a second. “Jack, what’s wrong?”

Rhys sounded concerned, that much Jack could ascertain through his sudden rage. But he _couldn’t_ be bothered to pay Rhys any mind as he began to disassemble the metal on his arm. He tugged sharply at a dark blue panel, ripping it up and tossing the metal before it was skittering across the floor loudly.

“ _I want my arm back!!_ ” Jack shouted, distantly aware that Rhys was approaching him quickly. He pulled another piece of sparking metal from the arm and discarded it. “ _I want my arm back **you bastards!!**_ ”

“Jack, _stop_ _it–!_ ”

“Shut _**up!!**_ ”

Immediately, Jack felt his right fist lash out, striking something he wasn’t aware of right away. But as Rhys made a cry of pain and was suddenly on the ground, Jack became all too aware of what he’d just done.

A quickly reddening mark was growing on Rhys’ cheek, his eyes wide in both concern and fear. Jack’s lungs burst over and over as he tried to regain oxygen, staring in slowly dawning horror of what happened. Suddenly, he was standing from the couch, his left arm sparking slightly as he tried to move it, realizing that he’d done some _considerable_ damage to the mechanical arm.

“Rhys, _shit_ , I–” Jack began, pausing suddenly as Rhys brought up a hand to stop Jack before he got any closer.

“Don’t,” Rhys said quietly, calmly. Too calmly for Jack’s liking. He stood a moment later, taking a small step back from Jack. “I think you should leave. I’ll fix your arm tomorrow.”

Jack was suddenly speechless. Oh, he’d fucked up and that mark on Rhys’ cheek was just staring him in the face, blaring his mistake loudly.

Jack tried again, taking a step closer, “Rhys–”

Rhys only took another step back in response, watching the older man carefully, “Just _go_ , Jack.”

Without waiting for a response from Jack, Rhys just turned and made his way back to his desk, settling into his seat as he muttered, “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Just… _Don’t_ destroy anymore of your arm.”

If it was possible to feel any worse, then Jack wasn’t sure he wanted to know _how_. He’d been blinded by his own anger, his own hatred toward his arm and the bastards that caused it. He wanted to bring them back to life just to kill them all over again. Despite all that, he _never_ wanted to hurt Rhys. Not after all Rhys had done, caring for him and helping with his rehabilitation.

Jack just pursed his lips, an angry scowl slowly crawling onto his features. This time, he was just angry at _himself_. He turned abruptly and left the office, unable to even look back.


End file.
